small changes. big savings

Small changes.

BigSavingS.

2 wellsource.com • 800.533.9355

CASE STUDYCompany: Froedtert Health

WellneSS program: Wellness Works

no. of employeeS: 9,000

partiCipation rate: About 80%

roi: $3.2 million since 2009

WellSourCe produCtS uSed by froedtert HealtH – Personal Wellness Profile™ – Health Activity Tracker™ – Online Wellness Center™ – WellNotes® Newsletter – Health Challenges™

– Weight Management for Life book

– Step Into Fitness & Health book

– WellSuite® Portal

leSSonS learned – Incentives make a positive impact

on participation rates

– Support from executive team essential to success

– Integrated effort and communications plan helps educate employees

– Specific initiatives can reduce health risk factors within an organization

– Evidence-based program helps guide programming and interventions

– Positive relationship with Wellsource Inc. enhances use of HRA

3wellsource.com • 800.533.9355

It’s Kathy Menard-Rothe’s business to know how the 9,000-plus employees at Froedtert Health are doing. She’s the wellness manager for one of

Wisconsin’s largest health care systems. And she knows little changes can make a big difference. In the last three years, Froedtert Health, a Wellsource client since 1997, has saved an estimated $3.2 million in healthcare costs by making wellness a priority, according to data reported by their health insurance broker. Between 2009 – which was the first full year of a focused, strategic wellness program for Froedtert Health – and 2012, claims data proved this remarkable savings.

Menard-Rothe and her team of wellness professionals have championed Froedtert’s Wellness Works program. But so have all of the doctors, nurses, health educators, professionals, and staff members. As a group, they increased their participation in wellness by 5 percent last year to more than 80 percent. Wellness initiatives to lower health risk factors have saved lives, helped people get better care, and created a wellness culture that earned Froedtert Health the WELCOA 2012 Gold Workplace Wellness Award for a health care system.

“Our wellness program has helped a lot of people make important changes in their life to improve their health,” says Menard-Rothe.“

Wellness program earns $3.2 million in ROI.

“Every day, we are demonstrating excellence across the organization, delivering top-notch patient outcomes, keeping costs down, following recommended processes, and providing value to the community as a trusted partner.”

– Catherine Jacobson Froedtert Health CEO


“Using the Wellsource® HRA, we have identified people with diabetes who didn’t know they had the disease. We’ve helped motivate people to get more physical activity. And we’ve had employees lose as much as 50 to 70 pounds. Wellness is really important to us. We want our staff to be healthy so they can provide the best care possible in our community.”

engaging participantsOn a recent site visit, Menard-Rothe spotted a young employee she met with during a previous campaign to promote Wellness Works. She knew right away that the efforts to educate employees about major health risk factors and chronic disease made an impact.

“When I last saw this young man, he was overweight and his biometric lab test showed he had high blood sugar levels,” says Menard-Rothe. “But he worked very hard to change that. He saw a dietician. He used our resources to learn more about diabetes and weight loss. He met with his doctor regularly. And he lost 48 pounds in about a year.”

Incentives make a positive impact on participation rates.

“Using the personal Wellness profile™, we have identified people with diabetes who didn’t know they had the disease.”

– Kathy Menard-Rothe Froedtert Health Wellness Manager

About Froedtert HealthFroedtert Health operates three hospitals and more than 30 community-based primary and specialty care clinics in southeastern Wisconsin. Its academic medical center, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, was named one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the United States in 2013 by Truven Health Analytics. It was also recognized as one of the top 15 Major Teaching Hospitals in the nation.


“We really try to present our wellness program in a positive way. And it’s exciting to see employees take responsibility for their health.”

Wellsource tools used by Froedtert’s staff include the Personal Wellness Profile™ Health Risk Assessment, Health Activity Tracker™, Online Wellness Center™, WellNotes® newsletter, Health Challenges™, and WellSuite® Portal. These tools have helped participation in Froedtert’s wellness program grow every year since partnering with Wellsource almost 20 years ago.

At first, Froedtert used paper-based HRAs long before the idea of incentivizing participation was really even a wellness concept. But Froedtert quickly incorporated the latest practices in wellness as the industry evolved. And they were quick to adapt to emerging technology and the web-based Personal Wellness Profile™ designed by Wellsource.

Support from executive team is essential to success.

Wellsource® tools used by Froedtert Health:• Personal Wellness Profile™

Health Risk Assessment

• Health Activity Tracker™

• Online Wellness Center™

• WellNotes® Newsletter

• Health Challenges™

• WellSuite® Portal

• Step Into Fitness book

• Weight Management for Life book


Today, Froedtert employees who complete basic participation requirements can earn a $360 medical plan discount on health insurance premiums each year. Froedtert keeps people engaged with additional incentives such as gift cards, pedometers, books, and other health-related resources. Free on-site health clinics for employees and almost zero-cost preventive care have also played a major role in keeping employees healthy.

In 2008, Froedtert officially formed its own wellness department and staffed it with a team of wellness experts and health professionals. They developed a strategic plan to promote wellness in the workplace. And they’ve turned the fledgling program into a model of success. Last year, they increased participation rates by 5 percent and expect to see that kind of growth continue in 2013.

“One of the things we’ve used to engage employees is the monthly Health Challenge™ that Wellsource offers,” says Menard-Rothe. “We know the health challenges have helped people make small

Integrated effort and communications plan helps educate employees.

Aggregate participant data from the Wellsource® HRA helped Froedtert Health create initiatives to lower blood sugar levels, reduce blood pressure, and lose weight.

Froedtert Health executives Cathy Buck, Karl Schultz, Andrew Barth, and Teri Lux were recently named Wisconsin’s Fittest Executives by Biz Times Media.


behavioral changes that lead to better health. And when we travel around, we see people tracking their activities, like eating vegetables, drinking water, or weighing themselves once a week.”

Froedtert Health has also used aggregate data from their Wellsource® HRA to create specific initiatives to help their employee population lower blood sugar levels, reduce blood pressure, and lose weight.

“Those campaigns have been very effective,” says Menard-Rothe. “We did a large program on diabetes awareness and prevention. Over time, we saw blood sugar levels drop and diet and exercise improve as a result of that awareness campaign. We saw similar results when we educated people about hypertension and body mass index. Since we’ve been doing these awareness campaigns, we’ve seen positive shifts in all the major health risk factors.”

Specific initiatives can reduce health risk factors within an organization.


building relationshipsMenard-Rothe communicates regularly with department managers throughout the healthcare system to learn how Froedtert employees are doing. And they’ve even tailored interventions to meet the needs of specific departments. That kind of approach has helped increase participation rates, lower health risks, and contribute to the $3.2 million in ROI Froedtert has achieved.

“One key to success has been building a positive relationship between the wellness team and our leadership,” Menard-Rothe said. “We work closely with our senior leaders, middle managers, and supervisors to create targeted programming. They request different things like information on stress management or nutrition. We bring those resources to them like the Health Challenges™ and other interventions like the book, Weight Management for Life. It’s one of the things that has made our wellness program so successful.”

Evidence-based program helps guide programming and interventions.

“We bring those resources to them like the Health Challenges™. It’s one of the things that has made our wellness program so successful.”



replicating SuccessFroedtert’s Wellness Works program for its own employees has been so successful, they’re using their model to help other businesses incorporate wellness in the workplace. Froedtert Health’s Workforce Health Program, led by Director of Business Development Barbra Fagan, helps employers in the region design wellness programs to meet the needs of their own populations. Many Wisconsin employers have partnered with Workforce Health to administer health risk assessments and biometric screenings, identify health management goals, create interventions, and provide health coaching.

“We provide our services with the underlying goal of engaging employees and establishing rapport so that we can drive the behavioral changes necessary to live a healthy lifestyle,” says Fagan. “And we truly believe that we need to be connected to the community and be a partner with the employers we work with.”

Positive relationship with Wellsource inc. enhances use of Hra.

froedtert’s Workforce Health program, led by Director of Business Development Barbra Fagan, helps employers in the region design wellness programs to meet the needs of their own populations.


With features that allow Workforce Health to brand, customize, and configure the Personal Wellness Profile™ and WellSuite® Portal, they can deliver the same evidence-based tools used in their own wellness program to employers throughout Wisconsin.

One of those employers is the City of Milwaukee. In the last three years, Workforce Health has developed a positive partnership with the city that has transformed employee health and wellness.

“They’ve reduced the number of smokers from 19 percent to 11 percent in the last three years,” says Fagan. “And that alone has saved the city roughly $1.25 million. They’ve had phenomenal participation and success in their smoking cessation program. And now we’re looking at targeted approaches to obesity and diabetes. If we can achieve the same kind of success in those areas as in smoking, they’re looking at a savings of another $4 million.”

Smoking cessation program saves City of milwaukee $1.25 million.


Setting goalsFroedtert Health’s $3.2 million in healthcare savings didn’t happen overnight. And it wasn’t luck that produced that kind of ROI. Menard-Rothe and Fagan helped lead the effort to set wellness goals for the organization. Following a similar mission as Wellsource to promote health, prevent disease, increase productivity, and enhance the quality of life for its employees, success followed. It’s a model other organizations can learn from.

“If you’re looking at offering wellness in your organization, you have to know what your objective is,” says Menard-Rothe. “Then you’ll have a goal to work towards and be able to measure the results of your efforts. Our evidence-based approach to wellness and partnership with Wellsource helps us provide the best programming possible to meet those clinical guidelines that are out there.”

“If you’re looking at offering wellness in your organization, you have to know what your objective is.”


Visit Wellsource.com/free-resources to download this free brochure and get your wellness program started today.

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